Sex offender to be charged over Ohio killings of three women

Police in Ohio said they expected to charge 35-year-old Michael Madison on
Monday after the bodies of three women were discovered wrapped in plastic
bags in a Cleveland suburb.

East Cleveland police search near where three bodies were foundPhoto: AP

By Staff and agencies

1:43AM BST 22 Jul 2013

Madison, a registered sex offender, was identified as the suspect in the killings of the women on Sunday as police combed the area for what they feared would be more gruesome discoveries.

East Cleveland Police Chief Ralph Spotts said he expected Madison - who was taken into custody on Friday after a two-hour stand off with police at his mother's home - would be formally charged on Monday.

Earlier on Sunday he had warned searchers to be prepared to find more victims in the low-income neighbourhood. But the day ended without further discoveries.

The bodies of three black women were found on Friday and Saturday after authorities responded to a report of a foul odour.

The finds constitute the Cleveland area’s latest high-profile case of missing women. Earlier this year, three women in an unrelated case were found and freed after being held captive in a home for years.

Mayor Gary Norton said the suspect indicated he might have been influenced by Cleveland serial killer Anthony Sowell, who was convicted in 2011 of murdering 11 women and sentenced to death. Sowell was arrested after a woman escaped from his house and said she had been raped. Police found the 11 women’s mostly nude bodies in garbage bags and plastic sheets throughout the home.

In this latest case, one body was found Friday in a garage. Two others were found Saturday – one in a backyard and the other in the basement of a vacant house. The three female bodies, all wrapped in plastic bags, were found about 200 yards (182 meters) apart, and authorities believed the victims were killed in the last six to 10 days.